Key posts
Poll: Who are you tipping tonight?
Captain Warner is ‘loud, obnoxious’. The boys love it
Sydney Thunder coach Trevor Bayliss doesn’t hesitate, nor need a leading question when asked the key difference in a finals-bound dressing room, a year on from owning the worst Big Bash record in a decade.
“David Warner,” Bayliss deadpans.
Thunder skipper David Warner.Credit: Nick Moir
“The job he’s done as captain, it’s not just about his batting, it’s his personality. He’s always up for it, he’s a positive character. Loud, obnoxious sometimes. But the boys love it.
“He engages with everyone and out on the field, everyone’s got confidence that he obviously knows the game and the [tactical] moves he’s made have, most of the time, been good ones.
“He’s a proactive captain, proactive captains seem to know what’s about to happen and make a fielding change before it happens.”
The Thunder went 1-7 last season, the worst return of any side since the same outfit failed to muster a win in 2012-13.
Either way, the never-ending Warner narrative and accompanying spotlight were always good odds of defining the Thunder’s campaign.
It started, after all, with the franchise championing an end to his leadership ban that resulted from the 2018 ball-tampering saga.
Read the full story here.
Toss: Warner v Meredith as Hurricanes opt to bowl
We’ve flipped the bat (yeah, I know) and Hobart have come up trumps, they’re opting to bowl first. David Warner says he would’ve chosen to bat first anyway.
The Hurricanes are unchanged from the semi-finals and have bowled first every game this year – captain Nathan Ellis feels “like the wicket will get better under lights.”
The Thunder are bringing Ollie Davies into their batting line-up as their only change.
Hobart Hurricanes: 1 Mitch Owen, 2 Caleb Jewell, 3 Matthew Wade (wk), 4 Ben McDermott, 5 Tim David, 6 Nikhil Chaudhary, 7 Chris Jordan, 8 Nathan Ellis (capt), 9 Cameron Gannon, 10 Peter Hatzoglou, 11 Riley Meredith
Sydney Thunder: 1 David Warner, 2 Jason Sangha, 3 Matthew Gilkes, 4 Sam Billings (wk), 5 Ollie Davies, 6 Chris Green, 7 George Garton, 8 Nathan McAndrew, 9 Tom Andrews, 10 Wes Agar, 11 Tanveer Sangha
Poll: Who are you tipping tonight?
The forecast: pretty perfect conditions
Welcome one, welcome all
Evening sports fans,
Don’t look now, but the Big Bash final is upon us, Hobart hosting Sydney Thunder in the Tasmanian capital.
The locals are slight favourites down south with Tim David and Mitch Owen our best bet for pyrotechnics from the home side – the Hurricanes are out for their first BBL title by the way.
The Thunder meanwhile, they’ve got David Warner at the top of the order and the batting aggregates, leading the visitors to this decider just a few months after CA overturned his leadership ban.
First ball is at 7:15pm AEDT, we’ll have the toss, teams and plenty of gibber to come shorty.
